


Summer Depression (you cured it)

by TheLittleGirlFromSokovia



Category: Victorious (TV)
Genre: Best Friends, Bisexual Jade West, Bisexuality, Deal With It, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Flirting, Jade POV, Lifeguards, OOC Tori Vega, POV First Person, Soft Jade West, Summer Love, Swimming Pools, bade was never a thing, can you tell that I'm making this up as I go, i guess, idk why, its like so small though, jade wants tori but is being a little shit about it, mentions of domestic violence, robbie isnt in this, the tags and the story, they don't all go to the same school, tori actually has a backbone?, we stan cat valentine in this household, well its a lifeguard break room now, you know that janitor's closet from victorious
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:34:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23694736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLittleGirlFromSokovia/pseuds/TheLittleGirlFromSokovia
Summary: Jade just finished her 3rd year at Hollywood Arts, and has to get a summer job to afford to live alone throughout the summer. After Cat scores her a job at a local pool in Venice, California, Jade has no choice but to take it.Maybe its not so bad, because there's this one girl. This one girl who won't stop flirting with Jade until she gets a date.And this girl, she seems to just...understand Jade without even trying.Jade keeps denying it, but she wants that date with Tori Vega soooo badly.*aka the jori lifeguard au
Relationships: Cat Valentine & Jade West, Cat Valentine/Original Male Character(s), Tori Vega/Jade West
Comments: 16
Kudos: 87





	1. I would never check out a girl -

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Summer Fling or Maybe Something More](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6710524) by [paigegr8house](https://archiveofourown.org/users/paigegr8house/pseuds/paigegr8house). 



> Jade pov because I wrote the whole thing in 3rd and I didn't like it so yaaaaay hope you like it - also got this AU idea from a Clexa fic I saw by paigegr8house. Check it out if you want to :)

There are approximately 7 things you need to know before you read my story.

One, I’m Jade. Jade West. If you met me, you probably wouldn’t like me. And I probably wouldn’t like you.

Two, I usually say I hate the pool. I say that because I do. I hate California pools, anyway. Not that I would know what any other pool looks or feels like. The California pools were always crowded, small children soaked and running about, their shirtless fathers chasing them and shouting excuses to the people they ran into. The pools crowded with suntanned women in turquoise jewelry lounging about sipping on their fruity drinks - the ones with small pink umbrellas sticking out - sitting on lawn chair thrones. I loathed those women, mostly because they reminded me of my mother.

Three, my mother is thirty-five and divorced. She’s always out of the house, always avoiding me like the plague. And why shouldn’t she? Because of course, I remind her of her deadbeat ex-husband, my father, who never seems to be around either.

Four. Long story short, at the time that this story takes place, I basically lived alone, with my mother’s money left around the house to buy food and really anything I could legitimately justify. But this summer, my mother went off to Hawaii. For the entire summer, it seemed. I asked if I could have some money for the two and a half months I would be spending completely alone, and my mother left me some. It was not even enough to get me through a week completely alone. I knew that my father wasn’t even worth contacting, so as soon as my mother left, I started looking for a job. It really wasn’t that bad – even though my anger issues would probably cause me to physically attack my mother if she was present, I knew my situation wasn’t as bad as others. It would give me something to do.

Five. With my hatred of California pools, I ended up as a lifeguard, of course.

Six. Cat Valentine is the reason that most of this story takes place. Or at least the reason why it has the ending it does. Don’t tell her I said that. 

Seven. Believe me, I didn’t plan to like being a lifeguard. I didn’t even plan to be a lifeguard. And I especially didn’t plan for it to be the reason I fell in love.

And I guess there’s an eighth thing. Well, you’ll find out about that later.

Now let’s go back to the beginning.

* * * * *

The triceratops tromped through the forest, the misty haze blocking its vision as it tried to find its next meal -

* * * * *

Ha! Had you for a second, did I? If I didn’t then…damn it. But if you even thought for a second, like - you’re kinda stupid.

I’m just kidding! Well, not really. If you were smart, you wouldn’t read something written by someone who keeps skulls in jars in their bedroom, but hey, that’s your choice.

Okay, I’ll be serious now. Where were we? Oh, yeah, the beginning. We’ll just go back to before I got the job. Not that I have any idea when that was… Cat says it was June 9th. I don’t think she’s right, but when I voiced my disagreement, she hit me with a pink floof of a pillow, so we’ll just say she’s right for the sake of my sanity. Alright, here we go. Que the fast-forward sound from a VCR from 2001.

* * * * *

Of course, I went for the easy jobs that would keep me fed – grocery stores, movie theaters, restaurants. But, of course, all the high school kids with annual summer jobs had beat me to it. I ended up calling my best friend, Cat Valentine, to ask about anything she would know about.

Cat lives in Venice, California. Her parents aren’t much more attentive than mine, so Cat lives with her Nona. Cat and I go to an art school in Hollywood, and we are basically the only friends each other have. Cat and I do most everything together, and that was just how it always had been. I like to think that we have that kind of relationship where I could pull up to Cat’s house at 3am with a new script I had written and 2 cups of coffee and she would, without asking any questions, say “come in.” 

I glanced at my phone. I typed in my passcode, then mindlessly found and tapped Cat’s contact. The phone began to ring, and it barely had for a second before -

“Jadey!”

Cat greeted me with the nickname I had pretended to despise for years. It was actually my favorite thing in the world, with me having no other affectionate figures in my life, really.

“Hey, baby girl. Guess what?”

“What what what?! Please tell me!”

I went silent purposefully to aggravate the perky redhead.

“ _Jaaaaaaadey_!”

“Oh yeah, well mother dearest is leaving till August.”

“Why? Do you want to stay here? You could if you wanted to ya know!”

“Well I might later, but right now I’m looking for a job to hold me over till school starts back up again. All the crap in my area is gone – you know about anything around Venice?”

“I’m not really sure – I don’t know anything about jobs and stuff. Hold on – I’ll ask Nona.”

Cat quite literally dropped the phone, and I heard her tiny footsteps running to find her Nona. I twirled my hair in my fingers as I waited. I had just re-dyed my hair to the solid hair color black, and my signature colored strand of hair purple. My original hair color since birth was plain brown, and I hated it. I would never say it, but I dyed her hair in the hopes of looking less like my father, and more like someone my mother could love. I failed, I guess.

“JADEY!”

I snapped out of my thoughts when Cat’s voice boomed in through my headphones. There was no purpose in wearing them I guessed, so I yanked them out as soon as Cat startled me.

“What did you get baby girl?”

“So Nona says that most of the jobs are gone to the usual summer workers - ”

“Fuuuuuuck!”

“But Jadey wait! Nona also said that the last opening she knows about is at the Venice Local Pool!”

I sighed. Pools. But a job was a job. A paycheck was a paycheck.

“Alright– send me the directions and I’ll apply.”

“Yay! I don’t think it’ll be very hard – even my brother was a lifeguard once!”

“Of course he was.”

“Did you need anything else Jadey?”

“Nah – I’m okay.”

I sighed, and Cat paused. Cat could always tell when something was bothering me.

“…do you want to talk about your mom?”

“Not really, Cat. Maybe tomorrow?”

“Sure! Call me…pleasey!”

“You got it, baby girl.”

“Bye-bye Jade!”

“Bye Cat.”

* * * * * 

I showed up to Venice Local Pool at about noon the next morning. It was my Saturday, and I really did not want to be there. I stood by the counter, staring at my reason for coming, a “HELP NEEDED” flyer on the nearest electric pole. I tore it down (what? I certainly didn’t need any competition around), and walked up to the guy standing behind the counter. He was smoking… something. He was wearing a very thin, white tank top, and bright red lifeguard shorts. His skin looked like caramel. He had sunglasses twirling in his right hand, the thing he was smoking resting in his left. His brown hair looked like an ocean wave, and his blue eyes rose up as I approached. He was such a cliché that I was, like, 99% sure his name was Brody. Like, Lysol germ destroyer counts sure.

I basically threw the flyer (with my application) into this guy’s face.

“Whoa, okay then. So, lifeguard?”

The guy looked up expectantly.

“That’s what it says, right?”

“In search of new VLP personnel. So what exactly can I help you with, hot-stuff?”

“Just get on with it Brody. You already know what I want. Now do I or do I not have money for food this month?”

“Well, since we haven’t had any other applications yet…and yours looks great…I guess you got it.”

“You guess?”

“Well, I’m not the final decision maker around here - ”

“Shocking.”

“ – but I don’t see why not.”

“Great. Call tomorrow if you want me here. Bye Brody.”

“You got it, girl. And the name’s _Jordan_.”

“Whatever…Brody.”

Brody laughed as I walked back to my car and drove to Cat’s Nona’s house for the afternoon.

* * * * *

Long story short, I got the job.

* * * * *

What I knew about my new job was that after the first two lifeguards swapped shifts at the beginning of the day, I worked from 12pm to 1pm, then break, and then Brody and I switched back and forth after or whatever. Besides that, all I knew was that the hours could shift, I had to wear my red lifeguard swimsuit, had to sit on that damn chair in the sun at the hottest time of the day, and life was going to be miserable for the rest of the summer.

My first day was today, and I was less nervous and more tired. I just didn’t want to go. But I called Cat, and she said that she would come with me, at least for a little bit, during my first shift. That made it better.

“You know Cat, I could just rob the TD Bank down the street and be set for the rest of the summer.”

“Jadey!”

“I’m just saying - it’s an option.”

“It is not! Come on, lifeguarding isn’t so bad!”

“Yeah, it is.”

“No, it - ”

“Is horrible? Yeah, I was going to say that too.”

“NO! I was going to say that - ”

“Lifeguarding sucks?”

“Jadey!”

“Fine.”

“I was going to say that it isn’t so bad because you could meet a cute boy or a pretty girl!”

Cat said the last part of her sentence in a sing-songy voice, making me blush. I hadn’t dated anyone since I broke up with my ex about 4 months ago. It was kind of depressing to not have someone to hold close anymore. But… I had Cat. Cat was the one who snuggled with me, who binged Pretty Little Liars over and over again with me, and who was always there. No matter what.

And Cat was the one who helped me with my… anger issues. Who cracked my gobstopper exterior. Cat and I had been best friends since what felt like the beginning of time, so Cat always knew that I was just putting up a façade, a façade to keep me from getting hurt…again. Slowly, over time, with the help of Cat, I realized that the whole rebel act I put on for my parents really just wasn’t…needed with her. Or anyone else, even. And it was a bit cliché, really. I became myself again. I liked being able to be myself, and I promised Cat that I would never bring up my hard exterior again, to anyone but my horrible parents. But… whenever I met a new person or felt threatened, or anything among the list I had made, my hard exterior walls would go up faster than Cat ran to get gummy bears.

Cat also knew that I was bisexual. But so did everyone else (except my parents), so that was not really a big deal. Not to Cat or I, anyway.

I pulled into a parking spot by where I met Brody the other day. I was wearing my lifeguarding bathing suit underneath a pair of ripped jean shorts and a plaid shirt that wasn’t buttoned but tied together at my waist. My style was sort of just me throwing on whatever and accidentally looking okay. I didn’t really care, anyways. I walked up to where Brody stood as I tied a bun up in my hair and pulled my aviators down to the bridge of my nose. He smirked as I walked over, and I could tell that I would have a lot of fun bullyi – messing with him.

I walked up to the counter and let my elbows hit it, causing my glasses to tilt down the bridge of my nose. I heard Cat pad up behind me as Brody started laughing.

“Morning to you too, girl!”

“Hey, Brody. Now, how’s about that job?”

  * * * * *



Brody showed me the ropes, then gave me my buoy and whistle. Cat walked around in her bright red bathing suit, waving to random people she didn’t know as she waited for me to start my first shift. Brody and I were talking and we suddenly stopped walking. Maybe a little too suddenly, because Cat crashed into me. I tripped, and Cat tried to catch me, but we both fell to the ground. The hot, hot ground.

“CAT?!”

“Jadey,” Cat moaned, rubbing her side where my elbow left a bruise.

“I didn’t mean to, but you guys stopped too quick!”

I resisted the urge to strangle my best friend as Brody helped me up. I reached down and picked Cat up. She whimpered a little, and I saw that she had a scrape on her left elbow. Craaaaaaaap.

As soon as Cat saw the blood, she started to cry. I wiped her tears.

“Oh no. It - it’s okay baby girl. We’ll fix it. Brody? I kinda have to start my shift now, would you mind bandaging Strawberry Hotcake so I don’t lose my job before it even starts?”

Brody looked at me with a confused expression, as if he didn’t know why a seventeen-year-old girl was crying at the sight of a scrape on her elbow. And honestly? I didn’t blame him. But I had to get to work. I looked up at Brody.

“Please?”

“Fine. But only if you stop calling me Brody.”

“Your name’s not Brody?”

“No! I already told you my name’s Jordan.”

“I’m like, sixty percent sure you said, Brody.”

“Nope.”

“Okay fine, I’ll stop if you help Cat.”

“Got it. Get to work, girl!”

Brody took Cat into his arms. And, to my surprise, physically picked her up, _bridal style_ , and carried her to the lifeguard lounge. I shrugged and walked off to the lifeguard chair, pulling my glasses down to the bridge of my nose once again. I clobbered up the ladder and placed my body down on the uncomfortable chair. The only reprieve from the merciless heat was the giant umbrella above my head. I looked around the pool. Of course, I was a lifeguard at the rush hour of the local pool.

I sat in that damn chair for what felt like forever. My thighs were sticking to the chair, making me have to change my position, ripping them from the plastic of the lifeguard chair. My forehead was sweating, and I _never_ sweat. Basically, there was nothing pleasurable about this experience.

I gazed down at the entrance to the pool, on my right. I saw a girl walk in with another girl and two guys. One girl was objectively pretty, I guess. But, honestly, I was just staring at what she was wearing. A huge sun-hat hung over her, with bright pink sunglasses covering her eyes. She wore a type of cover-up, also bright pink, covered in cartoon fruits. She carried a see-through purple beach bag. She was on her phone, and the last thing I took in about her was that she wore bedazzled black flip-flops.

The two guys were also objectively pretty I guess. Handsome, whatever you want to say. The first had chocolate skin, his cornrows tied into a ponytail. He was barefoot - wearing a blue tank top and green swimming trunks with a musical note design on them. He was laughing with a boy next to him. This guy seemed to be a type of heartthrob. He had tan skin and almost shoulder-length black hair. He wore a gray tank top and black basketball shorts. He had some sort of necklace on that I couldn’t see. He wore Nike slides, like every “masculine guy” I ever met. He honestly might have been a guy I dated if I knew him from school or something.

Now, this last girl was pretty. The first thing I noticed was how bright her smile was. And yeah, it was cliché as all shit, but let me have my teen movie moment. She was Latina, brunette, and that was about as much as I could tell objectively. She was wearing a bright pink two-piece bathing suit, and it really suited her, hugging all her curves in all the right ways. Oh shit, am I… _checking this girl out_? No, no, that’s not supposed to happen. Only sleazy guys “check girls out.” I wouldn’t ever –

That was when this girl looked up at me. She smiled. She looked back down to the girl next to her.

“Tori! There’s no service here! How am I supposed to text Jake to see if he got all my messages?”

The girl wearing the bizarre beach-mom outfit yelled at the girl I couldn’t take my eyes off of.

Tori.

This girl than did the shittiest thing she could’ve ever done to me. And I mean ever.

She – Tori – she looked up at me and _winked_. Then she dove straight into the pool.

Fuck.


	2. Why, Me of Course

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tori starts making moves. Cat and Jordan seem to like each other. Maybe more than Jade's okay with. Jade's day gets more difficult, distracting, and just a teeny bit steamy. Not a lot. Like, a teaspoon much.

I watched Tori swim lap after lap. Shamefully, might I add. 

Tori’s friends had gotten food and were sitting at one of those ugly picnic tables that have holes in them and hurt your ass. They were all laughing together – although that one _hoe_ that yelled at Tori was still on her phone looking like she was constipated. 

I don’t know for sure, but I think Tori knew that I was watching her. I had my aviators covering my eyes, so she wouldn’t know for sure. I mean even if she did see me staring at her, could she blame me? She started it. She fucking winked at me. If that’s not defined as “starting it” I don’t know what is. 

I’m gonna get fired and it’s my first day on the job. If anyone drowned in that pool I wouldn’t have noticed. 

* * * * *

I tried my best and I didn’t stare at Tori again for the rest of the hour I worked. Because of the heat, we were mandated to take a ten-minute break every hour we worked. I climbed down from the ladder of the giant lifeguard chair and went to the lifeguard lounge. Brody was supposed to cover for me while I was on break, then I would go work for another hour, and then he would work for his two hours with me covering his breaks. It was kind of a fucked up schedule. I complained to Brody about it. 

“Brody, I’m not the biggest fan of this schedule ya know.”

“I’m gonna pretend you said Jordan,” Brody said with a sigh as he put sunscreen on his shoulders. 

“But who are you to complain?” He finished. 

“I’m Jade. I’m Jade and I’m complaining.” I said. 

He laughed and went to leave the break room. I threw a water bottle at him, but he dodged it as he left the room. 

Apparently, Cat and he had gotten to know each other better while I was working. And I didn’t care for that shit at all. I mean, I hate to say it, but Cat tends to date assholes because she doesn’t know any better. I protect her from said assholes. Not that I think Brody is an asshole. Yet. 

I sat in the break room with my aviators on my forehead, my bun devolving into strands of hanging hair on my head. I had given Cat my keys and sent her home in my car, so I couldn’t even screw over Brody and make my great escape. But maybe it wasn’t so bad. I mean, watching Tori swim made the job likable. Ugh, I disgust myself. I looked over to the doorway to see if my break was over yet, and spotted someone leaning against the threshold. They shut the door behind them. I stood and walked to my right to see who it was. Oh, shit. 

It was Tori. 

Tori walked closer to me, and I quirked my left eyebrow. Of course, I had to pretend that I didn’t know anything about her, so I spoke first. 

“How long had you been standing there?”

She looked into my eyes, making me feel like I had to look away, but I held my ground. 

“Probably longer than you’d like. Hey, I’m Tori Vega.”

“Um, hey? You know this is the lifeguard lounge, right?” 

“Yeah, I know.” Tori held her hand out and I quirked up my eyebrow again as I shook it. 

“Okay…still the lifeguard lounge.”

“What’s your name?” Tori smirked, and I might as well have melted. But I had to keep it up. 

“Jade. Annnnnd it’s my first day so, unless you’re an undercover lifeguard, you should probably…you know, go.”

“I knew it must have been your first day here. I would’ve seen you before.”

Fuuuuuuuck. Can she make this any harder?

“Huh. Have you flirted with every person at this pool yet?”

Tori laughed. A godly sound, really. 

“No, actually. Just you.” 

“So you admit that you’re flirting?”

“Depends. What would you think about that?” Tori got closer to me, and I felt hotter than Brody thinks he is. An amazing feat. 

“I think… that you’re going to need to get some better material before I let you anywhere near me.”

Tori smirked. So, she liked a challenge.

“Is that so?” Tori told me as she moved even closer. 

I realized that she had gotten so close to me that I was almost up against the wall. Oh hell no. This is not happening right now. The whistle outside blew. My break was over. I moved around Tori, getting as close as I could to her ear before I left. 

“I have to get back to work.”

I heard Tori breathe out as I stalked away, my aviators falling back down to the bridge of my nose. 

Damn, I don’t know how objectively hot that was, but it was kinda hot. 

  
* * * * *  
I went to sit back on the lifeguard chair, my thighs dreading the experience. Tori came out of the lifeguard lounge after I was already up on the chair. She walked over to her friends, who were in the pool now. That one girl was still on her phone with her feet in the water, though. I don’t know if that’s allowed, but I’m sure if I told her off I would have to interact with Tori, something I didn’t feel like I was mentally ready for after our last encounter. 

I finally finished my hour-long shifts. Tori looked up at me as she heard the whistle blow. She smirked as I climbed down the ladder of the lifeguard chair. I made my way back to the break room and high-fived Brody as he made his way to the chair. Brody told me earlier that he had gotten a third lifeguard, Liam, just to cover breaks all day. That meant that I could go home. But I would have to call Cat for that. 

The phone began dialing. 

“Jadey!”

“The one and only.”

“Are you done with lifeguarding yet?”

“Yeah, I finished early. Can you come to get me?”

“I’ll come to get you – but only if you talk to Jordan for me.”

“Who?”

“The other lifeguard?”

“Oh, you mean Brody?”

“No, he said his name was Jordan.”

“Whatever you say.”

“So you’re going to talk to him?”

“Depends. Do I _have_ to?”

“Yep!”

“Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhh.”

“Pweasy?”

“There, I talked to him.”

“Did you really?”

“What do you think?”

“Jadey, call me back when you tell Jordan to ask me out. _Then_ I’ll come to take you home.”

“But –“

The dial tone rang out. So I have to ask fucking Brody to date my best friend or I sleep at the pool. Damn it. Brody’s all the way up in the lifeguard chair! The hell am I supposed to do? Apparently, she was watching my annoyed face at the end of my phone call, because Tori walked up to me. 

“Boyfriend trouble?”

“Fuck off.”

“Woah, aggressive. Why?” She said as she quirked an eyebrow. 

“My friend was supposed to drive me home. She says she’ll only come when I tell that guy -” I pointed up to the lifeguard chair, “ - to go out with her.”

“And you can’t do that?” Tori looked at me questioningly. 

“I mean – _yeah_ – but I mean Cat just…it doesn’t matter.”

“Cat’s your friend?”

“I – yeah.” I stuttered. 

“Well if she’s your friend, you’ll get her what she wants. And if he breaks her heart I’ll beat his ass for you later.” Tori said jokingly, making me chuckle darkly. 

“And, Tori, what makes you think that I would need you to beat someone up for me?” I said as I quirked a pierced eyebrow (my classic move, really). 

“Well if that’s true, you would’ve asked him already,” Tori said as she folded her arms. 

“Well - ” I started. 

“And,” Tori said as stalked up to me – so close that her mouth was next to my ear. “don’t think that I’ve forgotten about the lifeguard lounge earlier. I don’t give up that easily, Jade.” She whispered. 

Coherent thoughts were impossible to form in my brain. But Tori walked away from me towards the showers, and I felt my face feel more “98 degrees-ish” and less “oven cooking a Stouffers Lasagna.”

I decided to yell for Brody to act on Cat’s request in the hope that I might get her to come to get me and take me _home_. 

“Brody! BRODY!”

Brody looked down at me, not dignifying me with a response. He then looked away, back over the pool. I knew what I had to do, but that didn’t make me happy about it.

“…Jordan.” I said in the lowest possible tone I could manage with him still hearing me. He looked down at me once more. 

“What was that Jade?” He said, putting his right hand by his ear. 

“Jordan,” I said in a slightly higher tone. 

“Sorry, could you repeat yourself?” He said again, leaning his head downwards towards me.

“JORDAN GET THE FUCK DOWN HERE!” I said in a louder tone than I would like to admit. 

He seemed frightened though because he scrambled down that ladder faster than I could see. 

“Yeah, Jade?” he said in a snarky tone. 

“Watch yourself Jordan. Or should I say, Brody?”

“Fine. What did you need so badly that you even used my real name?”

“Well, I need a ride home. Not from you, might I add. From Cat. And…”

“And?” Brody questioned, a smirk still plastered on his face. 

“And she won’t come to get me unless I ‘talk’ to you for her.” I finished. 

“Talk?”

“She wants me to ask you out for her!” I said in a hurry. How could he not have figured it out by now?

“Oh! Yeah, I would love to go out with her.” He blushed. 

“Okay great, cause Jade needs some McDonalds, and Cat is the one delivering.”

Jordan laughed and climbed back up to the top of the lifeguard chair. 

  
* * * * *

  
Cat ended up coming to get me. With McDonald's. I _know_ , she’s my hero. 

  
* * * * *

I was at home on Sunday. Sundays were my day off. I was vegging out on my bed watching the Twilight Zone when Cat burst through my bedroom door. 

“Jade!” Cat said excitedly as she hopped on my bed next to me. 

“Sup, baby girl,” I said as I always did, popping a piece of popcorn in my mouth. 

“Jordan and I are going to Dave & Buster’s!”

“Cliché. I mean great!” I said, taking a sip of my root beer. 

“And I was wondering if you would come too.”

I actually, physically _choked_ on my root beer. 

“And why would you think I would do that?”

“Because you said you’re the guard dog of all my favorite dreams,” Cat giggled. 

I thought back to that moment in freshman year of high school when I had made that promise with a Fall Out Boys lyric. Damn it. 

“And my dream right now is for Jordan to be good on our date!”

“What, do you think I’m going to jump on him when he doesn’t win you a teddy bear?”

“…that’s what you do to all my boyfriends.”

“…you’re right.” I conceded. 

Another flashback to the time I punched Cat’s ex-boyfriend Kyle when he forgot her birthday. I mean that was a much higher offense on the level of boyfriend offenses, so I feel it was justified. 

“So you’ll come?”

“So I’ll come.”

“Yay!” Cat hugged me, nuzzling her head into my shoulder. 

I’m so fucked bro. So fucked. 

* * * * *

I went back to the pool on Monday for my shift. Guess who was there. If you guessed anyone other than Tori, I mean you’re probably wrong, but I wouldn’t know cause I was only looking at her. She came up to the bottom of my stand during my shift. 

“You know you still haven’t given me that kiss,” Tori said, pretending to look at her nails. 

“I’m fully aware. I’m also fully aware of the fact that I told you you would need better material first.”

Tori sighed, putting her arms behind her head as she leaned against the lifeguard stand.   
I put a hand to my head. I never sweat, but it was so hot that I was starting to. 

“God, it’s hot.”

“I could give you more reasons to sweat,” Tori said, looking up at me with doe eyes. 

I actually chuckled. Not bad. 

“Not good enough Vega.” I could tell that me using her last name affected her. She quirked an eyebrow and let her hands fall to her sides. She put one on her hip as she beckoned me down to her. I wasn’t going to go, but the whistle blew for my break a second later, so I would have to come down anyway. I climbed down slowly, teasing her before my feet hit the ground. 

“How did that date-asking go?” Tori asked. She remembered. And she wanted to know how it went. At least she cared a little bit about me, not just my hair or body or anything else really. I’m kinda hot if you didn’t know. 

“I mean, he said yes. They’re going on Saturday.”

“So why do you sound upset about it?”

“ _Because_ , it’s a date at Dave & Buster’s, and Cat’s making me third-wheel it.” I sighed. Then Tori did something I…didn't expect. She grabbed my wrist, yanking me toward the lifeguard lounge. We passed Jordan on the way, and he shot me a questioning look as Tori dragged me inside. She physically pushed me up against the wall this time, and I gotta tell you, I didn’t hate it. 

“You know,” she said, “It’s not third-wheeling if you have a date.”

“And who, pray tell, would that be?” I already knew what she was going to say, of course, but I wanted to hear it out loud. 

“Why, me of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you think Jade will take Tori to D&B's?


	3. "Helpless."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jade has to go on Jordan and Cat's date, but she's not really having much fun. And...she isn't so sure Tori will show. Jade then realizes that Tori cares a lot more than she thinks.

“How about _no_?”

I had never seen it happen before, but when I said that, I could see the smallest loss of confidence in Tori. But it turned out to not be that big of a deal because she regained her confidence in a second.

“And why would you say that?” Tori said, her left eyebrow lifting and her lips pulling themselves up into a smirk.

Mind you, I was still pressed up against this wall. Not comfortable. Not at all, really. And a little hot. Just a smidge.

“Well for one I barely know you.”

“Seems like a minor issue to me.”

“Two would be that you’re flirting with me for no reason other than my body, considering the fact that I have barely said two words to you since we met.”

“Hey, that’s not –”

“And,” I said, dragging it out longer than it needed to be, “you’re pushing me up against a wall right now.”

Tori quickly dropped her hands, giving my shoulder blades a much-needed break. But I sighed. I will admit, I missed the feel of her hands on my skin.

“ _That’s_ why I said no.”

Tori put her hands on her hips and turned around. After a few seconds, she blew out a breath and turned back around.

“You’re interesting.” She said.

“What?” I didn’t know where she was taking this, though that would’ve been obvious if you could see my face.

“That’s why I wanted to kiss you. That’s why. You’re interesting and - ”

She looked at me, and I felt like she was actually looking at me for the first time.

“You’re right. I don’t know you. I don’t know you…but I _want_ to.”

I tilted my head and smirked.

“See? Now that’s a reason I might go on a date.”

I wanted to frustrate her, and it seemed that I succeeded. Her hands fell from her hips and she gaped at me.

“ _Might_? I just did feelings! I don’t do feelings.”

“I get it, Vega. Fine. One date. A date with Cat and Jordan at D&B’s. Saturday at 8pm.”

I saluted Tori with two fingers as I went around her, brushing her hand as I passed. I could feel her looking at me as I left, but I didn’t turn around.

I find her story hard to believe. She hits on me because she finds me ‘interesting?’ Nobody in the history of the world has ever befriended Jade West because she looked ‘interesting.’ Cat befriended me in elementary school. She said I would yell at other kids, and she became my friend because she wanted to make me feel less alone. Of course, she didn’t know then that we would be friends for years afterward. Ok, but my point is, how did Tori Vega, the flirt Tori Vega, see me, and decide to try to get with me because I’m fucking _interesting_? I don’t get it.

Maybe I’m overthinking this.

* * * * *

It was Friday afternoon. Days at the pool had gone by, and I hadn’t seen Tori since I told her she could come on the date. I stared at the water, trying to see if I could see my reflection from all the way up in the lifeguard chair. I can’t. Of course, I didn’t expect her to come every day, but I really don’t feel like being ghosted right now. I mean, it’s not like I was actually falling for this girl. I’m not. I know now is the time where I’m supposed to say “There is no other, there will never be another, she is the one!” But I just don’t feel that. Yet. I mean, I think the right terminology for how I feel about Tori Vega right about now would be…captivated. She charms me. She holds my interest.

She _interests_ me. Huh. Maybe I do get it.

* * * * *

Saturday came.

I was supposed to get in Jordan’s car with Cat on the way to D&B’s. But there was _no fucking way_ that was happening.

“But Jadey – ”

“Do not Jadey me, Valentine. I am _not_ going in a car with you and beach boy to D&B’s.”

“…but you’ll come?”

I suddenly felt horrible for snapping at her. Cat Valentine was my best friend, but almost like my little sister, in a sense. Doing anything wrong to her made me feel like I had just clipped an angel’s wings.

“Of course I’ll come, baby girl.”

“Yay!”

Cat went back to her normal, bubbly voice, and I felt better.

* * * * *

7:30pm. It would take like 35 minutes to get to the place, so I had like negative six seconds to get ready. I put on my jeans, the ones with holes in the knees. Some comfy socks were lying on my floor, so I pulled those on and yanked on my black combat boots. I was walking around in my bra trying to figure out what shirt to wear. I ended up throwing on a black shoulderless shirt. It had straps, and the sleeves were flowy. I like loose clothes. Like Mack in Teen Beach Movie. Hate on it all you want, that shit is a masterpiece. I put on my small silver ear cuff and my silver moon necklace. I put on a little makeup and I was ready to go. I grabbed my stuff and got in my car.

After the long-ass drive that I spent listening to depressing Lana Del Rey songs, I finally pulled into the mall parking lot. The D&B’s was inside, so I had to try to remember where it was. I pulled open the doors. The mall was humongous, but I remembered where D&B’s was from all the times I went with Cat when she was sad. I bounded up the escalator and pulled a right to get to the entrance. I bought a card to get in. D&B’s was a huge place. To get to the room with games, you had to go through a pretty good looking hallway with some tables and a billiards table on the left. That area was empty all time, it seemed, but you could see why when you got through it. After passing the fortune teller machine, you were met with what I thought was a disgusting carpet – and a huge room filled with huge games and pretty normal-sized people. I wandered around a bit before I saw them. Jordan and Cat were playing basketball. Of course, Cat was abysmal at it. But, Jordan was lifting her up in the air so she could throw it higher. When she made a basket, they both cheered and hugged. I didn’t want to ruin their moment, but I also didn’t want Cat to think I ditched her. I walked up to them, and Jordan turned around, giving me a smirk.

“Hey, West. Funny seeing you here.”

“Shut up - you knew I was coming.”

“Doesn’t make it not funny.”

I shot him a glare as he continued chuckling. Cat turned around after shooting her last basket (it missed) and squealed. She pounced onto me, wrapping her arms around my torso.

“Yay yay yay! You came!” She nuzzled her had into my chest. I saw her a few hours ago.

I pet her hair anyway. “Of course I came Kit-Kat. But I am hungry, and I’m kinda waiting for someone - ”

Cat gasped, saying, “Oh! That cute girl from the pool?”

Jordan chose this wonderful time to chime in.

“ _Which_ cute girl from the pool? The one that dragged you to the lounge a few days ago?”

He cracked a grin as I slapped his arm. Cat looked at me, confusion written all over her face.

“What girl from the pool is _he_ talking about?”

I decided to put this conversation on hold.

“Later, baby girl.”

Cat gave me a kind of look only Cat could give. One that conveyed both an “okay, I love and trust you,” and a “what the hell.”

But I left with a half-hearted wave, and they went back to playing games. I then ate some garbage food and went over to try playing some games. I knew I looked pretty pathetic as a seventeen-year-old girl playing games alone, but I didn’t really give a shit what anyone thought about me right about now. I only bought the card to get in…and to play the game where you throw balls at clowns to knock them down. After buying card after card and wasting almost all my money on that dumbass game and getting barely enough credits to buy anything from the prize store, I went to the area by the ski balls and pulled out my phone. It had been more than an hour. More than an hour and Tori still wasn’t here.

I’m not interesting enough, yeah?

I mindlessly scrolled through Pinterest before someone bumped into me. I turned around quickly.

“Watch it!” I snapped. I was down to a negative amount of patience with anyone due to Tori not showing.

The man held his hands up and raised his eyebrows. He then turned around and walked away. I slapped my forehead with my hand. My nails were digging into my palms. My temper was getting out of control again. I had to get out of here. I sped through the crowd of teens and adults, bumping into many along the way. D&B’s was in the upstairs portion of the mall, so not many people were around in front of the entrance. I tore open the exit doors and stopped in my tracks. Left meant the doors to the theater, right meant the bowling alley or the escalator downstairs. I figured that if I went to go see a movie it would calm me down… and I would be close to Cat if she needed me. I turned left and sped through the doors to the movie theater. I bought a ticket to a horror movie I had seen before and went into the theater without any food or drinks. I felt like crying. And the worst thing was that it was all because of a girl I barely knew.

* * * * *

I hate this. Sometimes my mind feels so…swollen. It’s like there are just too many things going on around me, and I just want to cry or throw my fist through a wall. Tori didn’t come. I was angry and sad. I hadn’t… been with anyone in what felt like forever, and I thought that maybe I could get to know her. That I could be more than just interested in her. I tilted my head back on the seat and groaned. There weren’t many people in the theater, considering that this movie had been in theaters for more than a month.

I tilted my head up to see the death scene I remembered from the last time I saw this movie, but I couldn’t see it. Not well at least. I couldn’t see it because someone was standing in front of the screen. It almost reminded me of a scene in the movie La La Land, my guilty pleasure movie that only Cat knew about. The person’s head turned, and I sucked in a breath. The light shone on them. It was a girl, and she was beautiful. I stood up. I was in the back row, so nobody yelled at me. Lucky for them. I would’ve punched them if they had. We locked eyes, the girl and me. She moved away from the screen, the fluorescent lights removing themselves from her glowing honey skin and pulling themselves back into the shape of the scene in the movie. She ascended up the stairs and into my row. She took my hand into hers and sat down, pulling me down with her.

If you haven’t gathered it by now, the girl was Tori.

We sat there for almost a minute in silence.

“How did you find me?” I said in a small voice.

“I was at Dave’s, and you were nowhere to be found. I saw your redhead friend though. She said she had no idea where you were. I went out on a limb and thought that instead of being the third wheel, you wanted to be alone. So, movies.”

“And the horror genre? Another guess?”

“I suppose so,” She said as she turned her head towards me. Her hair flowed down her shoulders in chocolate waves. “this movie has been out for a long time. Empty theater. And I took you for a thriller movie person.”

“Okay, Nancy Drew. Riddle me this.” I was ready to get angry at her and leave, but she interrupted me before I could finish.

“If you’re going to ask why I’m two hours late, you should know it’s your fault.” She said as she quirked an eyebrow.

“In what way could it possibly - ”

“You never told me which Dave’s the date was at.” She finished as she turned her head back to the movie and closed her eyes.

Shit. She was right.

“That would be a way.”

Tori smiled. And it made me smile.

* * * * *

We had spent a few minutes in silence watching the movie, but Tori just had to ruin the moment with conversation.

“Jade,” Tori started, looking at me. I knew that she could tell that I didn’t want to talk, but she continued anyway. “can I ask you something?”

I looked at her, feeling my voice grow thick with dry sarcasm. “You just did.”

She rolled her eyes and nudged me. “You know what I mean.”

“Fine then. Shoot.”

“You want to tell me why your knee hasn’t stopped bouncing all night and why you’re squeezing my hand like you’re dying?” She asked.

I think she saw my face go white. I tried to let go of her hand, but she held it with both of hers.

“You haven’t been here all night – you don’t know that,” I remarked.

“The straight answer would’ve been that you’re not.”

I rolled my eyes and looked away from her.

“I just get stressed easily. It’s not a big deal.” I lied.

“You said I could get to know you. _Let me_.” She replied, her tone insistent.

I scoffed.

“Don’t pretend to care,” I said, and I regretted it as soon as it came out of my mouth. Tori had been nothing but nice to me, overly flirty, but nice. And I had both screwed her out of two hours of her day and snapped at her.

It was Tori’s turn to scoff. She looked down at her feet and shook her head. She then tilted her head to the side to speak to me. She let one of her hands fall from mine, but her right hand continued to hold mine. 

“Look, I know you’re a hard-ass, but can you let those walls down for like thirty seconds?” Her eyes were wide, and she held my gaze like she would fall if she looked away.

“I’m sorry,” I took a deep breath. “when it feels like there are just…too many things happening or…things happen spontaneously I just can’t take it. I feel… _fuck_ , I just feel like punching a wall. I just feel –” I murmured, but I was interrupted.

“Helpless.” Tori finished for me, bowing her head again. I missed the heat of her gaze.

“Helpless.” I agreed.

She squeezed my hand tighter. Who is she? Why does she care? How does she know how I feel…and how did she know that I was upset about anything at all? I need to figure this girl out. Quickly. Before I fall. Because I’m scared of heights. And if this girl turns out to be anything other than what I hope she is, I’m not gonna lie, it’ll suck. It’ll suck so bad.

“Why do you know what to say?” I asked.

“Hm?” She responded, looking at me again, her eyebrows raised.

“Wh - why do you know me? You shouldn’t,” I said, gesturing with my hands. “I don’t know you. Like, at all. All we – all we’ve done is flirt and…hold hands in a movie theater.” I finished, looking down at our interlocked hands.

“Well as for why I’m here holding your hand, West,” she started, sitting up and looking away from me, “Pretty girls shouldn’t be alone in the movie theater.”

I chuckled. Damn it. I tried not to so, so hard. I don’t remember when I told her my last name, but I decided to roll with it.

“And as for how I know you,” she continued, “I know people, I guess. You were hurting. I wanted to make you feel better. The rest is just… I don’t want to say guesswork…hmm…reading in between the lines.”

“Well, you know what…I don’t care what it was. It…helped.”

“I’m glad.” She said.

We looked at each other again. Holding Tori’s stare was like…like holding a candle. I don’t want to get all mushy and descriptive about it, but it was. I always felt like she was gonna look away and leave me in the cold again. But she stayed this time. She held the gaze, fire burning in her eyes. What if I was ice and she was fire? What if we were one of those people? What if she could thaw me? What if I could cool her down? Or maybe it wasn’t all that. Maybe we weren’t the sun and the moon. Maybe I was just crazy. I met her a week ago. Plus, I’m Jade West. Jade West doesn’t like someone after a week. But maybe Tori Vega was the exception. I hate being such a simp.

We talked all through most of the movie, our hands clasped all the while. I think she knew that I still hadn’t opened up as she hoped. When the movie was almost over, Tori decided to cross lines.

“I have another question,” Tori said, breaking our stare once again.

“Go ahead, Vega. God knows you’ll ask it anyway.” I said, shaking my head. _Why_ do I keep snapping at her?

“Okay,” She snapped. She was getting angry - she just wanted me to open up. “cut the crap.”

“Consider it cut,” I said, looking down at my shoes. I felt bad for snapping. And I never feel bad for snapping.

“When was your last relationship?” She questioned.

I feel like I'm overusing the word 'snapped,' but it was a tense encounter. I nearly snapped my neck looking at her.

“A little early, Vega?”

“I don’t think so. Not if it helps me know you.”

“Almost five months ago,” I revealed.

She nodded. “And what happened that makes you so scared of me?”

“I’m not scared of you,” I blurted out immediately. “I’m… _wary_ of you.”

“But _why_?” She said, raising her eyebrows and lifting her left hand for emphasis.

“If you’re wondering if I’m still in love with him, I’m not,” I started. She didn’t seem surprised that I was bi, and that made me feel better. “I’m not still in love with him. I don’t…I’m not holding onto any old feelings. I just haven’t _found_ any new ones yet.”

She nodded. “I know what that’s like. Maybe I could help with that.”

I laughed. “You’re overconfident, you know that? I give about zero fucks about feelings right about now.”

Tori looked at me. Really looked at me. And I really looked at her. It was like we were trying to know everything about each other and skip all the buildup. Her eyes were so pretty. They were brown like coffee. Coffee is my favorite. It was then that I realized that she was still looking at me. She wasn’t pulling away, afraid she would get burnt from the pressure of my gaze. She leaned toward me, so close that I could smell the vanilla of her perfume.

When I first met Tori, I imagined her flirting lips would leave bruising kisses, the ones that felt like ecstasy but left you needing an ice pack. But when her lips touched mine, it was the softest thing. The smell of vanilla filled my nostrils, and I knew then that every time I smelled it I would think of her. Her right hand was still holding my left, but her left hand was on my neck. My right hand was on her cheek, and she leaned into the touch. I could hear a scream from the movie in the background, but it didn't matter. Everything was quiet now. Tori's lips moved against mine, and I felt that maybe…never mind. I mean, I hate to say it, because I’ve been wrong before but, ugh. She may be flirty, but she’s so…good. And I’m…not. But, you know, there’s something about goodness that’s just asking to be corrupted, don’t you think?

When she pulled away, she smiled.

“I don’t know what’s going on in your head, girl,” Tori said as she gently brushed a lock of hair behind my ear, “but I think that is defined as ‘giving a fuck.’”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> La La Land is a great movie - I had to throw it in there lol. If you watch this scene below (copy paste the link), you'll see what I was talking about when Jade mentioned it :) 
> 
> https://youtu.be/uuEPCRYtrYU


	4. Don't let her go, Jade.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jade freaks out because she thinks things are moving too fast with Tori. She tries to convince herself that everything is fine, but Cat knows that Jade thinks this is a repeat of her past relationship. When Tori does something insane, Jade finally realizes what she should have known all along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very light mention of domestic abuse, but there might be just a smidge more in the next chapter. Hope you like this one - sorry it took me a little but longer, but the chapter itself is longer too so yippee Jori

“You know, you’re cheesy as all shit,” I said, letting her caress the purple strand in my hair. 

She laughed then, and let her hand fall to her lap.

“Is it cheesy if it’s true?” She asked, raising an eyebrow and gesturing with her left hand.

“Um, yes.” I said, nodding my head. As she laughed again, I rolled my eyes with a smirk forming on my lips.

I started to think then, when Tori wasn’t paying attention, of how fast this had all been. Things never happened to me this way. Within a week, I had gotten a job, seen a cute girl, gone on a _date_ with said girl, and _kissed_ said girl. When does that ever happen? She already knew more about me than almost anyone in my life (not even a close second to Cat, though). It was then that I realized that this was how I had fallen in love last time. I liked him, he flirted, and I ended up telling him everything about myself whilst knowing nothing about him. And that had ended badly. Badly in the beginning, badly in the end, and the middle wasn’t too good either. But Tori wasn’t Nick. At least I was hoping she wasn’t. But I had to know.

“Vega,” I said, getting her attention. She looked at me, her fist pressed against her left temple.

“What’s your story then?” She let her hand slip into mine.

“Well,” She started, looking up at the ceiling. “I’m eighteen, I go to a public high school nearby, and I like to sing.”  
  
“That’s it?” I asked.

“What else do you need?”  
  
“I don’t know…something more. See, I kinda just gave you my fucking life story and you give me ‘I like to sing’?” I said, throwing my right hand in the air.

“I - you’re not wrong. What else? I hate my sister, my parents are divorced, my best friends are André and Beck,” She added, looking at me with a look of proving me wrong – probably because I never told her Cat’s name and she’s telling me her friend’s names.

“I’m a lesbian,” She said, stretching the word out longer than it needed to be. I looked at her, rolling my eyes. “and I like this girl named Jade.”

“I’m shocked,” I responded, swiping my right index finger across my bottom lip. She pushed my arm after that, laughing.

* * * * *

The movie ended, and Tori walked me out of the theater.

“So where are we going now?” She asked, still holding my hand as we pulled a left out of Theater 7.

“Well I have to go home. And you probably drove here, so I guess I’ll see you at my shift on Monday… if you come.”

“Maybe if you beg me I’ll come,” Tori teased.

“I don’t know who you think you are, Vega, but Jade West doesn’t beg,” I tested, pushing her up against the wall in the near empty hallway, pinning each of her arms. She looked shocked, and I was pleased with myself for pulling that off.

“You do.” I finished, pressing my lips onto her cheek and lowering them slowly to the tip of her jawline. It was such a chaste, ghost of a kiss that Tori couldn’t resist trying to get me to really kiss her. I knew that. I slowly let my lips leave her neck and let her arms fall. I put my hand near her collarbone. Her jaw was slacked with surprise. I then stopped in my tracks. My hand removed itself from her chest.

“This is too fast,” I said, some tinge of something lingering in my voice as I backed away from her.

“Jade?” Tori responded, getting closer to me to see if I was okay. I backed away more.

  
I turned around as I paced. “You’re not supposed to be so - so nice. I’m not supposed to tell you so much about me and you – I’m not supposed to kiss you, and I’m _definitely_ not supposed to push you up against a wall in the hallway of a movie theater,” I rambled. Tori grabbed my shoulders and held me still. We were about the same height, but her stare made me feel small.

“Jade,” She started, moving her hands down to my arms. “I know you’re…wary of me, but I won’t hurt you, okay? And yeah – yes, I know you’re a badass, and you telling me about yourself doesn’t take that away from you - ”

I shook my head. “Maybe I should…give myself a minute. Think.”

“What do you mean thi –”

“See you around, Vega.” I said as I sped toward the escalator.

As I got on it, I heard Tori shout after me, “Jade - you never gave me your number!”  
  
But I couldn’t look back at her without running back to kiss her.

* * * * *

It was Monday, and I dreaded it. I dreaded having to look at Tori after my breakdown after the movie. Today, I knew that there was a pretty good chance she would be at the pool. I had to get my mind off of it. I called Cat to ask her how her date with Brod–Jordan went. I didn’t _want_ to hear about Jordan’s cuteness and lovable attitude, but I knew if I didn’t call, Cat would have my hide. Actually, she wouldn’t – Cat wasn’t like that. She would just get sad and distant and then I would get sad and distant and then we would both be miserable. Which wasn’t worth avoiding a single phone call. Also I didn’t want to think about Tori’s vanilla soft lips anymore. The phone dialed and went through within seconds.

“Jadey August West!” Cat huffed through the phone.

Oh shit. Cat only used my dumbass middle name when she was mad at me. The Jadey was still thrown in there though, which meant at least that she wasn’t _pissed._ But this was still making her go full on delulu mode.

“…baby girl?” I asked in a small voice.  
  
“Don’t baby-girl me! You lied to me _and_ you left without saying goodbye!” She said angrily.

“Okay Kit-Kat I can explain – ” I started.

“And who was that girl who came asking about you?” Cat asked, still on a high of puppy-like rage.

“Okay, okay.” I started before I explained everything that had happened to Cat.

After she had understood everything, she started to ask questions.

“So this girl is Tori, and she likes you.” Cat thought aloud.

“Yes? I mean, she listened to my problems – which I guess anyone could do. But then she… kissed me. And I was fine but then…and I don’t know what to make of any of this.” I said, pressing my palm to my forehead as I laid back on my bed.

“So she kissed you, and you let her, and then you freaked, and you still don’t know what to make of it?” Cat asked sarcastically. And Cat _never_ asks anything sarcastically.

“When you say it like that you make it sound stupid.” I responded.

“Well maybe it is. You have to let yourself be happy again Jadey, and - ”

“It’s not that, okay. I just don’t want what happened with – with Nick to happen again. Okay, I just don’t...I don’t – I can’t…” I tried to say. Cat knew though. She always knew.  
  
“Jadey, Nick was a bad guy. But he’s gone now. And…Tori isn’t Nick.” Cat reasoned.

“But _Cat,_ I don’t know that yet. And this – this is exactly how it started last time. He flirted, I fell, and then when I thought I was safe he started getting jealous and…doing what he did. I don’t want _bruises_ again Cat! Is - is this is the only headspace I’ll be in when I start a relationship now?” I tried again.

“Jadey, you don’t have to do this again. I know everything, okay? I know why you’re scared but…I think you should give Tori a chance. And… I don't think you have one headspace. It’s just…the one you’re used to. Maybe Tori could help with that.” Cat reasoned, once again. Cat usually wasn’t the one doing the reasoning.

I took a pause. I was holding the phone with my shoulder, and a pen was spinning in my right hand. Drawings ran up and down my left arm since Tori had kissed me. I liked to draw on my skin. I know, it could be bad for me – and my parents hated it. But it made me feel better. I don’t really know why. It was like a breath of fresh air from the anxiety that seemed to surround me when I thought of Tori. Right now I was drawing a vine looping around my fingers on my left hand.

“Thanks baby girl.” I said, exhausted even though I hadn’t moved from my bed in what felt like years. I think Cat could tell that I was done with this conversation, because she ended up wrapping it up pretty quickly.

“Jadey?”

“Yeah?”  
  
She sighed, collecting her thoughts, before she said, “Don’t let her go, Jade. Maybe she’s your Jordan.”  
  
And with that, the phone clicked and went silent.

First, hold up, what the fuck? When did Jordan become Cat’s one true love? I mean, she’s dated a string of assholes (as have I) so maybe she is just realizing what an actually good guy is like. Not that I think Jordan is a good guy. I mean he’s alright, but he…ugh, he’s a good guy. That’s the worst part. He’s a good guy so I can’t get on his case like I would Cat’s obviously awful ex-boyfriends. I mean a) I know, ew, I sound like a protective father, but b) Cat is important enough for me to lose just a bit of my dignity acting like I am. I should’ve called Jordan to ask about their date, but I had to get ready for work. And I would see him there anyways. Why make his life hell from a distance when I could do it face-to-face from the comfort of my own lifeguard stand?

Second, I think I need to apologize to Tori. 

  
  
* * * * *

I threw on my lifeguard suit and yoga shorts, slipped my jean jacket, and shoved my flip-flops on as I left the house. My hair was in its messy bun that it always was in for work, and my aviators sat on my forehead. I was rushing because I was extremely late. My long conversation with Cat, stressing about Tori, and wanting to interrogate Jordan all took up more time than I had originally thought. My car screeched out of the driveway, and I flew over to Venice.

By the time I got there, Jordan was covering my shift. Damn it. Now I _can’t_ give him hell because I would most likely lose my job instantly. Not great. But if I thought about it, I really had nothing to give him hell _for._ All he did was make Cat happy. I mean, I could set boundaries and things. Let him know that I _would_ give him hell, should he make Cat Valentine unhappy in any way, but that was about all I could justifiably do. Jordan looked down at me as I walked into the pool ready for my shift.

“Sup, Jade. Your shift kinda started like, a _half an hour ago_ , but its chill. I covered for you.” He said nonchalantly as he descended the lifeguard chair, landing on his feet next to me.

I hated the way he breathed out slang terms like they were carbon dioxide, but he isn’t firing me, _and_ he covered for me. So he’s Jesus Christ to me right now.

“Thanks Jordan. Sorry for being late, aka please don’t fire me.” I said back to him as I started to climb the ladder. He nodded and smiled. He started to walk away.

“Btw,” I grabbed his arm and pulled him close to me. He seemed scared. Yay.

“If I find out that Caterina Valentine is hurt in any way, I will blame _you,_ Jordan. You. Got it?”

I said sternly. He nodded quickly and started walking away towards the lounge. He turned back before he went in though.

“Jade?” He asked, getting me to turn my head towards him.

“You’re a good friend.” He said. He then turned back around and went inside the lounge.

Fuck. He’s a good guy.

* * * * *

I clobbered up the lifeguard chair after my first break to get out of the heat. It was almost a record high in California today, and I _never_ sweat, so there’s no way for me to cool down. What I mean is, it was hot, so the pool was fucking crowded. _Crowded._ It was so loud, and I was already getting a headache. I nearly fell asleep in the lifeguard chair from everything combined, and I was trying to keep one eye open as I listened to everything around me. It was mostly just the sound of splashing water and of it hitting the pavement, along with shrieking of children and yelling of parents. It had been like that all day, but right now something was different. The shrieking had died down in my right ear, and the yelling had turned to murmurs. I could barely see what was going on with the sun on my eyes, until I remembered that my aviators were on my forehead. I tilted them down quickly to see a body in the water.

My head shot up as I threw off my sunglasses and jumped all the steps of the lifeguard chair. I blew my whistle and dove into the pool. She was in a lane, so nobody had seen her go down until a few seconds after it happened. It was a girl, and she was face down sinking in the deep end of the lane. Why would she be in a lane if she couldn’t swim? She might’ve fainted, but it’s hard to tell. I say this as I’m swimming towards her, my thoughts speeding through my mind fast as hell. I kept repeating the instructions to myself. Whistle signal. Get another lifeguard to call paramedics if needed. Assume the worst. The actions for a spinal injury and suspected spinal injury are the same. Enter the water with the least amount of splash. Use a grip that secures the head and neck to prevent movement and bring the victim to the surface and roll her so she would be able to breathe if she were able to. Check for vital signs. If there’s nothing, pull her out fast and prepare for the defibrillator or CPR. If breathing is present, use a spinal board to secure her and pull her out of the water. Wait for the paramedics. I repeated them in my head even though I only had about 2 seconds to do so. I reached the girl and I almost had a heart attack myself. That was because the girl was a teenager, 18, went to a public school near here, hates her sister, has divorced parents, has two best friends named André and Beck, is a lesbian, and likes to sing. This girl has a crush on a girl named Jade. This girl was Tori Vega.

  
  
* * * * *

“I would call you a fucking idiot but I’m afraid that wouldn’t be enough to describe to you _how_ _fucking stupid you are!”_ I yelled as I pushed Tori down into a chair in the lifeguard lounge. She was soaking wet - but wrapped in towels I had thrown around her before I dragged her in here.

“Ja - Jade let me – ” Tori stuttered.

“ _Oh_ , I am so excited to hear the excuse for this one. Cause from where I’m standing it looks like you fucking fake _drowned_ to get me to fucking save you!” I snapped, pointing my finger at her.

“I - ” Tori tried again.

“Shit – I _liked_ you! All I needed was just a _minute_ to process everything and then you – this!”  
  
“JADE!” Tori shouted, standing up so fast that she threw her chair backwards.

I stopped in my tracks, my hands falling to my sides, then folding over my chest. Her face was hurt, I could see that. But what was I supposed to say? How was I supposed to feel? I swam to her in the water, and as soon as I made it over to her, I held her. She was awake in a second, and swam back to the surface. I held her anyways when I made it up, pulling her out of the water with me and telling the crowd to back off. I told Jordan to tell the paramedics not to come, and wrapped Tori gently. I made sure she was okay. I held her face in my hands as she nodded that she was fine. Then I dragged her to the lifeguard lounge and interrogated her. She was fine when I found her – I immediately thought that she must have fake drowned to…get my attention – _wow_ , I sound like a fucking narcissist. Okay, maybe I was wrong. No girl fake drowns for another girl she just met. And no girl, guy, or anybody fake drowns for Jade West.

“I was working, alright? I was working all night. I work at a bar. I’m a waitress.” She snapped.

“But I came here to see you anyways because – I want you. I didn’t want to leave things like we did.” She said quickly, moving her hands around, resulting in her towels dropping to the floor. She got closer to me.

“And I went swimming first. Only four laps in and I stopped for just a second,” She whispered. “Just a second. I decided to float for just a _second_ to relax. And the next thing I knew you were holding me.” She almost had tears in her eyes now. I wanted to take her in my arms and kiss all her tears away.

And _really_ , what was preventing me from doing that? This girl worked an all-nighter at her job and still came to see me because she wanted to make me feel safe. Feel better. She cared. For the first time, I wasn’t doing all the caring in the relationship. In fact, that was when I realized I was doing close to none. I needed to care for her. I needed to make this better.

“Tori,” I started, getting closer to her. Our chests were almost touching. “I’m _sorry._ I’ve…I’ve been a bitch. I shouldn’t have left you like that at the theater.”  
  
“True,” She responded, nodding and smiling. I like it better when she smiles.

“And _you_ , stupid, shouldn’t have come to see a bitch like me, because look what happened when you did.” I teased. My temper had diffused to nothing by now, all from Tori’s words. I mean, she really did nothing wrong…right? I don’t know if I’m right or just trying to justify what she did because I _likes_ her.

“So what now?” Tori asked, tilting her head to the side. 

“Now is when I tell you that you should never do that to me again.”  
  
“Well what if I did? Would you punish me?” Tori snarked back. She did that Tori Vega smirk.

I smirked, quirking my left eyebrow in what I thought was a seductive way.

She threw her hands up in an “I surrender” motion.

“Look, Tori. I…” I started. But I didn’t quite know how to finish.

“You what, Jade?” She said wrapping her arms around my neck. I started to feel trapped again, like I was… before. But then…I realized – it’s Vega. It’s Tori. Yeah, I may not know the everything about her yet, but it’s just the beginning. I don’t expect to know everything. And…it might be hard for me, yeah, but fuck it. All I can do is hope that she’s exactly who I think she is and go from there.  
  
“It…might pain me to say it like this but…I _like_ you, Vega. And I know that I freaked on you and that I might have been giving you fucked up signals but - ”  
  
It seemed almost unreal. I know I sound like a shithead but…right then and there she just grabbed my face with her hands and pulled me in for a searing kiss that seemed to stop space and time. My arms wrapped around her waist as we kissed, and she moved her right hand to the nape of my neck. She pulled away slowly, and let her forehead rest on mine. Both of our eyes were still closed, but Tori still spoke.

“We can go slow. And I’ll be here to pump the brakes anytime faster than you can say stop.” She assured me.

And then I thought that everything was going to be okay.

* * * * *

I was wrong.

I was so wrong because a week after that kiss, a week after I thought everything was going to be okay, a week after I thought Tori and I had everything made, Jordan came to tell me something while I was in the lounge at work.

“Hey Jade,” He started. I looked up. “There’s a guy outside asking about you.”  
  
I felt my heart pick up. This _cannot_ be fucking happening right now.  
  
“Says his name’s Nick.”

Shit.


	5. Car crasher, I'm Nick Carter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How did Jade and Nick meet? Why is he such an ass, huh?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hellOO im so sorry it took me so long to update - I would make a dumb excuse, but the truth it I'm lazy man. I also just rewatched all of supergirl, so there's that. but anyways, here's the next chapter. its mostly a flashback chapter, going through how nick and jade met. I will say there is a mention of domestic violence, but its not explicit. If that bothers you though, feel free to just skip the end of the chapter. Thanks :)

I think I should start at the beginning. I know I’ve said that before, but this is a different story. Think of it as a quick prequel to what I’ve already told you, kay? I’ll even put it into italics for you. 

_See? Happy now? Okay bossy, so it started when I was walking into Jet Brew. The usual smell of coffee beans and pastries filled my nostrils as I threw open the door. I was frustrated. Cat and I had gotten into a fight over something a few days ago. She hadn’t spoken to me since, and it wasn’t great for my mental health. My father and I had also had yet another argument about who cares what. My mother was out of town, a-fucking-gain, and I had a script due in a few hours that was practically garbage and barely done. It was just the beginning of the school year and I was already over it._

_I got in the line so I could get my morning coffee. I was seething. My arms were crossed tightly and I was staring at the ceiling waiting for my turn to order coffee. I pulled out my phone and hovered over Cat’s name for a second before I turned off my phone and shoved it into my back pocket. I was restless. I crossed my arms, tapped my foot, anything to distract me. I settled for reaching behind my head and tying my hair into a messy bun, with some strands of hair hanging in the front. I looked down as I pulled my leather jacket tighter around my body, covering my gray tank-top further. Looking up, I saw a guy standing at the counter where you pick up your drinks._

_And then he walked right into me._

_Coffee spilled all over my tank top, and even though it was black and wouldn’t really matter stain-wise, it was fucking hot! Not the fact that the coffee was all over me, but the actual coffee. I gasped and then just…laughed! Because...fuck. How the hell can a day be this bad? I was just tired of it at this point. I looked up at this idiot who ruined my day even more, and he was smirking. The fuck? I mean, I would apologize for cursing so much but…no I won’t! I was pissed! I think he saw how amazed I was at the fact that he was smirking because it was quickly wiped from his face._

_“I’m sorry. I didn’t see –” He started. He quickly reached over to a counter and pulled out napkins from a dispenser. He tried to wipe the coffee off my shirt, but the damage was done. It was done, and so was I._

_“Don’t,” I commanded. I pushed him away and marched toward the door. But I stopped in my tracks, because…who doesn’t want to be a little dramatic, right? I spun on my heel and looked him in the eye, a smirk just like the one he gave me plastered on my face. I walked up to him slowly. He looked anxious, and I could feel people looking at me, wondering what I was about to do. Just as I got close enough to him to touch him, I popped open the top of my coffee, and just as he realized what was happening, coffee covered his face. I heard gasps from the people around us, but I didn’t care._

_I turned on my heel once more, on my way out the door before I got in trouble. I threw it open and marched down the sidewalk. I pulled a left and tore off my jacket. I tossed my coffee cup into the trash, knowing full well that my day would be even worse because I hadn’t had any coffee. I usually had at least one cup, but today was the exception._

_I sped through the parking lot and into my car. I threw my coffee covered jacket into the backseat, then pulled open the drivers’ seat door and sat down. I slammed it, putting my forehead on the steering wheel. I screamed in frustration, you know, as one does when they’ve just made their day worse by throwing coffee in a guy’s face. But I shoved the key in the ignition and headed off to hell._

_* * * * *_

_The day had gotten worse if that were even possible. I nearly failed the script I hadn’t turned in, my father said he wanted to have a ‘talk’ with me later, and Cat hadn’t talked to me all day. Not that I made that much of an effort either. My type of trying to reconcile usually included trying to keep eye contact or tilting my head as a motion for people to come over. What usually happened if Cat and I ever got into fights, which was rare, was that she would tug me into an unescapable scenario and make me talk about my feelings. Right about then, I believe we were fighting about a certain boy Cat was dating. His name was Danny I think, and he was a dick. Long story short, I may have ruined their relationship by revealing to Cat that Danny cheated on her. I don’t know how she became mad at me for it, but she broke up with him, and that was all that mattered to me._

_The only reason you need to know this is to know why I was driving so fast to Cat’s house. I had had it with her silent treatment, and for the first time, I was initiating the feelings conversation. I had sped through the parking lot of my school and gotten into my car as fast as I could after having to stay after school writing scripts so I wouldn’t completely fail the class. I did have a little good luck though, cause I went through the Jet Brew drive-thru and it was completely empty. I got a giant coffee and sped to Cat’s house. Well, I never made it there. You see, when you’re thinking about what you’re going to say to your best friend to reconcile with her, you may not realize a certain traffic light is yellow until its red. And then you’re going too fast and then –_

_Boom._

_I had a straight head-on collision with the car in front of me. It had just stopped moving, and I wasn’t paying attention, and I slammed into it from behind. My car headed straight for a barrier right after it had hit the first car, and I had braced myself well, I think, because I didn’t seem to be – well, what the fuck am I saying? I don’t know. What I’m trying to say is I didn’t break anything, but I slammed my head into the wheel so hard that my forehead was bleeding. That seemed to be all, though. In a daze, I pushed open the door to my car and stumbled out. I walked over to the car in front. Just to check. If I killed anyone I would be soooooo screwed. Also, I would feel bad. But screwed._

_The person inside was fine. But he was also a dick. A coffee-spilling dick._

_I scoffed and turned back to my clearly totaled car and sat on the street, leaning on the barrier. Cars were pulling around our collision. Surprised? I wasn’t, the people of Hollywood don’t have time to be good people. Anyways, the guy opened his car door and walked over almost carefully, like I might tear his arm off if I got the chance. But then he slid down to the ground, next to me._

_“What a turn of events, huh?” he said, looking up at the sky. He smelled like gasoline. Whether that was because of the car crash or a hint of a hobby in mechanics I didn’t know. Yet._

_“So are you going to call 911, or should I?”I questioned, turning to look at him._

_“I’ll do it,” He started. “And I’m sorry about the coffee, by the way.” He added, finally turning his head down and away from the clouds to look at me._

_He was thinking about that right now? I thought._

_“I mean, I did kinda pay you back for it,” I gestured to the totaled car. “In more ways than one.”_

_He laughed then, and I did too. He stood and paced as he called the police, then went over to sit down and put his phone away and looked at me once more._

_“Hey, it was a pretty big stain,” He started. But as I turned my head, he noticed the blood dripping down my face. “Whoa, are you okay?”_

_I had nearly forgotten about it in all the surprise of literally hitting this specific guy with my car._

_“Swell,” I said running my fingers across my cheek to wipe the blood off that was stemming from my forehead. “No, it’s okay. I’ll just get it stitched when the po-po get here.”_

_He chuckled. “What’s your name?” He asked._

_“I’m Jade. And you, coffee-spiller?” I said, quirking an eyebrow._

_He held out his hand. “Well, car-crasher, I’m Nick Carter.”_

  
* * * * *

It was so long ago, but it flashed through my brain in seconds when I heard those words come out of Jordan’s mouth. And I probably could’ve stopped him. I could’ve told Jordan that the guy outside was insane, and Jordan probably would’ve taken care of it – just like the hero guy he was. But I didn’t say anything. I just sat there. I wouldn’t say I was frozen, because…well, I wasn’t. My knee was bouncing, and I held my head in my hands, wondering what I should do. I wanted to go out and tell him to fuck off, but I don’t know how that would end. I want to say that he wouldn’t be able to sweet-talk me, but that was what he did best. 

Plus, Tori would be here soon. We had been spending time together for a few days since her drowning incident, and I acted like I hated it. She knew though. Knew that I didn’t. Not one bit. We were taking it slow, and she was fine with that. We both had summer jobs [see: Tori nearly drowning from exhaustion] and we were busy. That didn’t mean that she didn’t come to the pool nearly every day to see me, though. Cat seemed to be getting jealous because she was seeing less and less of me. That was both of our faults though. While I was with Tori, Cat was alone, and when I was alone, Cat was with Jordan. We made it work, though. Cat had begged me to come to stay with her at her Nona’s house, and I finally caved. I slept there last night. I brought only a backpack and a duffel bag. 

Fuck, man. You don’t care about where I slept last night. You care about why this Nick guy is hunting me down for the kill. You probably also care about how Tori will find out about this douchebag. Well, I’ll check half of that off my to-do list now. 

  
* * * * *

_Anyways, Nick and I were like a rom-com couple, at first. We started dating a little while after a car crash, and I really didn’t know he was seriously fucked up until we had been dating for months. I had gone out with Cat that night – her parents had been giving her a hard time, and she was sad. I had stayed out pretty late, maybe 12. My mom was out, so I had the house to myself. Imagine how surprised I was to find him in my house when I got home._

_“Where were you?” He asked. He almost sounded concerned, but it sounded more like an accusation than the question of a worried boyfriend._

_“I was just with Cat – parents,” I replied, throwing my jacket onto the couch and making my way to my room. He nodded to my answer, but there was still something off about him. I could tell. He followed me up the stairs and to my room. I threw my door open, tossing my bag onto the floor as I went to grab a tank top and boxers to wear to bed after I showered. I suddenly remembered that my boyfriend was here._  
_“What are you doing here, Carter? Somethin’ wrong?” I asked, turning around to face him, leaning against my bedpost._

_“No, no,” He started, shaking his head as he paced a little. What was he so upset about?_

_He suddenly stopped pacing and looked at me._

_“You know you’re mine, right?” He asked. And it was totally serious. His face was like a statue, his eyes crazed. He had never been like this. Sure, he had asked where I had been, or who I was with, but he had never waited for me to get home inside my house and questioned me._

_“Nick, I –“ I started, but he held my face with his hands to stop me._

_“Yes or no question,” He said._

_“Nick, people don’t belong to people –“ I said, remembering the quote from Breakfast at Tiffany’s. He responded in almost the exact way the guy had in that movie._

_“Yes, they do! You’re mine and I don’t want to lose you. You understand that, right?”_

_“Okay, Nick, but I was at Cat’s. I hardly see that as – “ He stopped my sentence by smashing his lips against mine. It was a rough thing, the kiss, not something I wanted. This was the first time I realized that Nick was, just maybe, not who I thought he was._

_This happened a few more times._

_I was getting nervous every time I stayed at Cat’s because I knew Nick would freak out. I stopped seeing Cat as much as I normally did, and she noticed. I couldn’t tell her that I was afraid my boyfriend was being a psycho, so I pushed her away. I never should have done that, but I did it for him. He was my boyfriend, and as much as my brain rebelled, I thought “No, he loves me. This is for us.” What a Manson girl I was being. I kept following Nick’s rules until more than a month later - when he lifted a hand to me for the first time._

_I had gone to see my father, to try to repair the rift I had created between us by…well, being bi. It didn’t work. And on top of that, Nick was waiting when I got home. He thought I had been with another guy, and he slapped me across the face. Of course, I thought I wasn’t a little bitch, and I wasn’t going to be anyone’s, especially not Nick’s. So I slapped him back. That was a bad idea._

_I never tried it again._

_Eventually, it had gotten so bad that even Cat figured it out. Surprisingly, she and her Nonna handled everything. Nonna told Nick’s parents, and they didn’t believe her. But she proved it, somehow, and they sent him away. I never said goodbye – I didn’t want to. And I tried my best to move on, but nothing had worked. I was scared that this guy would be everything forever. That I wouldn’t be able to have anything else. Then I met Tori. And then Nick just had to come to fuck it up by being here._

* * * * *

So that’s the story. Sorry it took so long to tell. But you don’t care about that. What you probably care about is what I decided to do about the asshole being at the place I work. Well, I went outside of the lounge in a daze. I held my head, riding out the blackness that was surrounding my vision. I waited, then slid my aviators on and peeking around the corner. Sure enough, Nick was there. Alone, wearing a crappy grey tank top with black basketball shorts. His hair was shorter, and his face was serious. I nearly fainted right there. I hadn’t seen him in a long time. Long time. I was about to run back to the lifeguard’s lounge, to call Jordan to get this guy to go away. I turned back, but right as I did, I made eye contact with Nick. Fuck. He gaped at me - starting to walk in my direction. 

“Shit, shit, shit,” I whispered as I hauled ass back to the lifeguard lounge. I locked the door behind me and slid down to the floor. I gazed at the crappy concrete floor and clenched my fists. I hadn’t realized it, but I was crying. Tears were streaming down my face. It felt like every bruise was coming back. Purpling on my skin, showing everyone how weak I was. 

This was when I realized someone was watching me. 

Tori was standing in the middle of the room, holding a package of Panera Bread. She made eye contact with me, and quickly dropped it, dashing toward me and holding my face in her hands. She looked so worried. I didn’t want her to be. Not over me. She thumbed my tears away and asked me, “Jade? Jade, what’s wrong?” Her jean jacket had holes in it that I was sure weren’t all there when she bought it, hanging over her bikini. Her hair was parted so that most of it hung in her face, and she was wearing workout pants over what I assumed were her bathing suit bottoms. She looked like she was ready to fight a bitch. 

I was breaking down. Nobody had ever done this to me before. Not my dad, not my mom, but Nick was? Why was I so fucking weak? I cried more. Tori thumbed more tears away. 

“Jade,” She asked once more – pleaded. 

“Vega,” I started, my voice breaking. 

“Tori, you have to help me.” 


End file.
